Smoke
by SunReyes
Summary: Bad habits are hard to break


Title: Smoke  
  
Author: SunReyes  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: Bad habits are hard to break  
  
Spoilers: Doppelganger  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters so please don't sue. Thanks to DM for being such a wonderful beta.  
  
******  
  
Smoke slowly filled the interrogation room.  
  
She used to smoke—it quickly became a habit. She was bored and when she was with some friends, they'd light up a cigarette.  
  
It turned into a power over her mother—to drive her crazy.  
  
Her older sister always disapproved of her smoking, and would take the cigarette from her fingers and stomp it to the ground. The look of sheer disgust on her face said exactly what she was thinking.  
  
When her sister left at eighteen, Samantha had no one to watch her back. She picked up smoking again and, looking back, it was a better habit than drinking or drugs.  
  
When she moved to New York, she thought she could quit the habit. She knew it would be difficult but figured she could accomplish anything. She joined the NYPD and gave up smoking while she was there. It wasn't easy, but neither was her job.  
  
Not long after she quit smoking, Jack Malone made an appearance into her life. He met her on an investigation and eight months later recruited her to the Missing Persons Unit.  
  
The day she stepped into his office, she craved a cigarette. She didn't know what it was about him, but she needed a fix. Four hours into her first day, she stepped onto the balcony, lit the end and breathed in all she could.  
  
"You smoke?" Jack stepped outside, giving her the once over and his disapproving glance. Something about it reminded him of her sister all those years ago—the concern she held. It was a shame they lost contact, broken apart over a stupid fight she could hardly remember.  
  
"I actually quit," she answered, taking in another drag and looking down on the city. "I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times over, but it calms me." She grinned and Jack smiled back out of amusement.  
  
He reached for the pack of cigarettes in her hand, and she backed up against the railing, clutching onto them with her life. "Jack, no!" She smiled out with laughter, feeling completely at ease with this man.  
  
"Jack?" he repeated with wide eyes. "I never told you to call me by my first name." His words were playful and teasing---even a rookie agent would realize that.  
  
"Oh, come on. Let go," she shrieked, feeling the rumpled package being pried from her fingers. She gripped his wrist, watching as the cigarettes spilled from the case, over the balcony and down to the sidewalk. "Shit! Look what you did."  
  
"What I did?" His eyes smirked. "If you keep smoking, I'll be forced to do that again."  
  
*******  
  
There she was, sitting in the interrogation room, questioning a suspect and holding the cigarette like all those years ago. She swore to Jack she wouldn't smoke. She was just going to play their suspect. He'd never notice; he wasn't that perceptive.  
  
As the minutes passed by and she glanced down, watching the cigarette burn smaller and smaller, she wanted to move her mouth over it, take in a puff and feel a quiet release to the tension.  
  
The moment her mouth touched the tip, the door flew open and Jack's eyes were on her. She was caught. The promise she made to him was sincere, but it was harder than she anticipated. That was true about a lot of things in their relationship.  
  
He gave her the disapproving stare, and as the case finally came to a close, she needed to get away and walked out onto the balcony.  
  
********  
  
"Samantha." She hears his voice and turns her back, looking out to the city.  
  
She pulls the packet of cigarettes, grabbing one and lighting it.  
  
"You shouldn't smoke."  
  
"Yeah, well there's a lot that shouldn't happen," she retorts. She is still emotional about what's transpired. "How could you let them do that? An innocent man will be going to jail and for what?" she shouts out, looking away and trying to keep her emotions out of the case. Her hand shakes and she drops the cigarette, stomping it out and crossing her arms. "It isn't fair."  
  
"No, it isn't," he answers. She catches his eyes on her and she wants to embrace him. She feels a need to do so, but also knows they've formed a distance since he's gone home. She pretends they're still together. In her mind and in her heart they may always be, but physically is another story.  
  
"It isn't fair," she whispers again, feeling the tears form in her eyes. She doesn't want to cry but she has no choice. She feels as though she's failed her job in the worst sense. The missing person was found dead and the suspect goes free with an innocent man's life at stake.  
  
"Life isn't fair," Jack says as his eyes meet hers. "Come here," he offers, reaching out to hold her once more. His hand slides down the curve of her back and she leans her head into his chest. The tears soak through his shirt and she doesn't know what to do to stop crying. She doesn't think anything will mask the pain or diminish it.  
  
"Jack," she pulls back, wiping her eyes, and he smiles affectionately down at her. "What?" she questions, not understanding how he can look at ease after all that's transpired.  
  
"Wisconsin," he smirks. "Everytime I hear it--"  
  
"If you tell anyone," her eyes light up and her words are more than a warning—they are a threat. As playful and as much fun as she is, her former life is just that---gone. She doesn't want to be reminded of it and with that thought in her head, she pulls the package of cigarettes out and dumps them over the edge.  
  
"Sam?" He eyes her and shakes his head. "You couldn't just use the garbage?" She glances over to the far corner of the balcony and sees the small ashtray/garbage can and laughs softly.  
  
"I guess not."  
  
The End. 


End file.
